Women in Australia
2004

CONTENTS	1. Population Characteristics	4. Working Life	7. Management and Decision Making
	2. Family and Living Arrangements	5. Economic Resources	8. Crime and Safety
GLOSSARY	3. Health	6. Education and Training	9. Selected Population Groups

Chapter 2. Family and Living Arrangements

Changes in Families Over the Last Century

During the 20th century, families underwent significant changes in structure. Around the time of federation, families often had both relatives and unrelated people living with them. After World War II, nuclear families (i.e. families formed around couples and parent-child relationships, with no other relatives) became more common. This is still generally the case, however, social changes which occurred in the latter part of the century saw increasing diversity in the kinds of families that exist within Australian society.¹

The appearance of different family types within society can be linked to a range of social and economic changes. In recent decades, trends in divorce and remarriage have contributed to changing numbers of one-parent, step and blended families. So too, trends towards delayed childbearing, increased childlessness and greater longevity have contributed to an increase in the number of couple only families.

Social changes have also affected the nature and composition of families. For example, the nature of couple families has changed with the increase in de facto partnering. The age profile of family types such as couples with children has shifted as young people increasingly delay this phase of life. For instance, young adults are remaining in education for longer, gaining economic independence later in life and forming long-term relationships at older ages.²

Contemporary Family Types

Couple families (with or without dependants) are still the most common family type in Australia. However, the last ten years have witnessed changes in this sort of family. Couple families in total decreased two percentage points between June 1993 and June 2003, from 85 per cent to 83 per cent of all families.

The size of couple families is decreasing, with the proportion of families with two members increasing, and the proportion with three or more members, decreasing. As a proportion of all couple families, those families with four or more members fell from 42 per cent in 1993 to 36 per cent in 2003. Between June 1993 and June 2003, the proportion of women in couple families with dependants dropped four per cent from 30 per cent to 26 per cent.

Graph 2.1 Lone Parent Families as a Proportion of All Families, 1993-2003

Lone Parent Families

In June 1993, lone parent families comprised nine per cent of all families. By 2003, that figure had increased by six percentage points, to 15 per cent. In 2003, there was an increase in the proportion of lone parent families with a male head. In 1993, lone father families comprised 11 per cent of all lone parent families. By 2003, that figure had increased to 16 per cent.

Between June 1993 and June 2003, the proportion of women aged over 15 who were lone parents increased from six per cent of all women to nine per cent, while male lone parents increased from less than one percentage point (0.7) of all men aged over 15 to close to two per cent (1.7).

People Living Alone

The proportion of people living alone also increased in the ten years between 1993 and 2003. In June 1993, 11 per cent of women and nine per cent of men were living alone. By 2003 13 per cent of women and 11 per cent of men were living alone.

The profile of those who live alone is slowly changing. Ageing in Australia reports that:

While approximately two-thirds of Australia's older people (62%) live in family households, recent trends such as low fertility, smaller families, higher incidence of childlessness and increased divorce rates have meant that the number and proportion of older people living alone has increased (from 20% in 1971 to 26% in 2001).³

Marriages

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics publication Marriages and Divorces,

In 2002, there were 105,400 marriages registered in Australia, an increase of 2,300 (2%) when compared with 2001 and a decrease of 11,800 (10%) on 1982.⁴

Marriages and Divorces continues that:

While marriage rates per 1,000 unmarried population (aged 15 years and over) are not yet available for 2002, the marriage rate trend since 1981 shows that marriage is declining. Marriage rates for the unmarried population fell in 2001, to 31 per 1,000 unmarried men and 28 per 1,000 unmarried women from 35 and 32, respectively in 2000 and 55 and 53, respectively in 1982.⁵

Those entering registered marriages are older. In the twenty years between 1982 and 2002, the median age of wives at first marriage increased from 22 years to 27 years while the median age of husbands increased from 25 years to 29 years.

Ritual and ceremony undertaken to celebrate the married state has also changed. In 2002, 55 per cent of all marriages were performed by a civil celebrant. From 1999, (at 51 per cent) the proportion of all marriages performed by civil celebrants has outnumbered those performed by ministers of religion. Twenty years ago, only 39 per cent of marriages were performed by civil celebrants.⁶

Divorces

At this time, data on divorces for 2002 is not yet available. Therefore the following paragraphs will focus on 2001 data.

In 2001, 55,300 divorces were granted in Australia. This was the highest number granted in 20 years. It was also an increase of 5,400 on the number of divorces granted in 2000 and an increase of 13,900 on 1981.⁷

For the years 1981 and 2001, the crude divorce rate was 2.8 per 1,000 population.

Projections suggest that the likelihood of a marriage ending in divorce is increasing. For example, if the 1997-1999 rates for marriage, widowing, divorce, remarriage and mortality were applied to a newly-born group of babies 32 per cent of their marriages would end in divorce. This is an increase on the proportion expected if 1990-92 (29 per cent) and if 1985-1987 rates were applied (28 per cent).⁸

Marriages and Divorces reported:

In line with the increasing age at marriage, the median age at divorce also rose. In 2001 the median age at divorce for men was 41.8 years (up from 35.5 years in 1981) and 39.1 years for women (up from 32.8 years in 1981).⁹

Cohabitation

The proportion of women and men who have chosen to live together has continued to rise over the last few decades. In 2001, 72 per cent of couples indicated they had lived together prior to marriage compared with 31 per cent in 1981.¹⁰

Different Types of Families and Income

In 2000-01, the majority of family income units were couples at 88 per cent, followed by lone mother families at 10 per cent and lone father families at one per cent.

At this time, couple families including dependent children had the highest mean gross income at $1,279 per week, while couple families only had a mean gross income of $929. Lone parent family mean gross weekly incomes were much lower: families comprising lone parent fathers and dependent children were on $595 per week while lone mothers and dependent children were on a mean income of $513 per week.

In 2000-01, lone parent female mean gross income was only 86 per cent that of lone parent males. However this figure was an improvement on that recorded for 1997-98 where lone parent mothers with dependants had a mean income that was only 74 per cent of that of lone parent fathers with dependants.¹²

Graph 2.2 Family Income (Mean Gross Weekly Income) by Selected Family Types, 2000-01

Graph 2.3 Carers of Those With Disabilities and Older People, 1998

Caring

As the publication, Caring in the Community notes,

Caring is a culturally defined response to a need arising in the family or community for assistance and support to its members. In its broadest sense caring encompasses many of the daily interactions that maintain and enhance human relationships.¹³

However, while caring can provide fulfilment and add to community and societal cohesiveness, caring can also add to lifestyle stresses.

In 1998, 14 per cent of women and 11 per cent of men classed themselves as carers. Almost one in four of these women, and one in eight of these men, were 'primary carers' - that is, they were providing the main care to a person with one or more disabilities. The peak age for caring responsibilities for women was 55-64 years, followed by 45-54 years. For men in contrast, the likelihood of becoming a carer increased with age, peaking at 65 years and over.

As Caring in the Community continues:

Carers, particularly those who live with the recipient of their care, may lack the time and space to physically recuperate and/or engage in activities that maintain personal well-being. Sleep interruption was the most commonly reported effect of caring, and was more often reported by those carers who were living with the main recipient of their care (51 per cent) than those who were not (23 per cent).¹⁴

Caring in the Community also recorded that:

People caring for someone living elsewhere were more likely to report feeling satisfied with caring, than those whose recipient was a co-resident (36 per cent compared with 26 per cent). Those caring for someone whose main impairment was psychological or intellectual were most likely to have experienced depression (48 per cent and 35 per cent respectively).¹⁵

The caregiving role can involve constant pressure. As the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health notes:

Caregivers have to deal with stress and restrictions on employment, social and leisure choices ... Many of them are combining family caregiving with paid work and running a household, and their ability to cope comes at considerable personal cost.¹⁶

The majority of primary carers (54 per cent) did not express a general need for more support, however, a considerable number (183,400) did.¹⁷

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Footnotes

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999, Australian Social Trends 1999, (Cat. No. 4517.0), Canberra.
2 Ibid.
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Census of Population and Housing: Ageing in Australia, (Cat. No 2048.0), Canberra.
4 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2002, (Cat. No. 3310.0), Canberra.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2001, (Cat. No. 3310.0), Canberra.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2001, (Cat. No. 3310.0), Canberra.
11 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Income Distribution, Australia, 2000-01, (Cat. No. 6523.0), Canberra.
12 Ibid.
13 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000, Caring in the Community, 1998, (Cat. No. 4436.0), Canberra.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Women's Health Australia, 2001, What do we know? What do we need to know?, Progress on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, Ed. Lee, C. Newcastle.
17 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000, above n 13.

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Table 2.1 Relationship in Household^(a)

Table 2.2 Family Type and Number of Family Members^(a)

Table 2.3 Family Income, 2001

Table 2.4 Family Type by Labour Force Status by Number of Dependants, 2003

Table 2.4 Family Type by Labour Force Status by Number of Dependants, 2003 (continued)

Table 2.5 Carer Status,^(a) 1998*